The following day Erik woke up refreshed. The young man was in a good mood first of all because at noon, he would be having lunch with Benjamin, who he called uncle.

The young man was very grateful to him since he was the one who took care of him when his father left home. He also knew that it wasn’t easy for Benjamin to take on someone else’s child as if they were their own.

A person willing to open himself up to another so completely expecting nothing in return wasn’t common anymore in this age and society.

Even now that his father had gone missing for more than two years, Benjamin was still taking such great care of him! It made Erik feel warm inside just thinking about how kind this person was.

Erik’s biological supercomputer system, which he was convinced would ultimately turn his life around, was the second factor contributing to his optimistic mood.

“Quests,” the young man said, willing for the screen to appear. Immediately, a blue and white semitransparent window appeared in the corner of his field of view.

—————————–

[Quests List]

[Daily]

<Eating Habits:>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Eat a healthy meal)

(ACCEPT QUEST) (REFUSE QUEST)

<Physical training:>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)

(ACCEPT QUEST) (REFUSE QUEST)

—————————–

The young man looked at the screen as if it was an illusion, which it actually was in a certain sense. He accepted both quests and then started the day by having breakfast to have the required energy to do his workout.

He went to the kitchen and prepared some fruit juice before eating a bowl of oatmeal. Then he headed out into the living room, where he sat down to eat.

While doing so, he watched television while listening intently to what was being discussed on TV news shows.

The news discussed the war between his nation, Frant and Hin. Apparently, the two armies resumed their skirmishes on Hinian shores again.

On top of that, rumors had begun circulating among the public that the conflict might worsen from there on. The war, these days, was not as in ancient times, where ships, tanks, and fighter planes sent missiles; the war was fought by people.

There were two reasons for this. First of all, practically every city had barriers encircling it; some of these barriers resulted from military technology, whose main purpose was to keep thaids out of the cities.

The wild was, in fact, full of those creatures, and there were many species belonging to this supergroup called thaid. It was impossible to kill them all. The barriers also worked against missiles and the like, making them useless.

Some other barriers were the result of brain crystal powers. First, nuclear bombs couldn’t be used because powerful individuals could stop them and redirect them back toward the sender.

Still, the second reason was that the only continent humans lived in was precious. Hence, a nuclear catastrophe was a big nono for any sane human being.

Humans still unleashed hell with devastating brain crystal powers, but at least it didn’t have environmental side effects.

The second reason for discarding such weapons was that such technology became useless since the brain crystal powers appeared.

After all, many people could send devastating attacks capable of destroying buildings thanks to their crystal power, making the production of such weapons obsolete.

Still, transportation means were present, and technology developed in a direction where maneuverability and speed were the main focus.

The battle between Hin and Frant was, at the moment, fought on the Hinian shores. Frant was the attacking nation; it was trying to conquer Hin, situated on a stretch of land on the thaid-infested continent, Mur continent.

The problem was that Hin forces were powerful since they were used to fight the thaids that threatened their borders.

Even with the incredible troops that Frant used, they could only arrive on the shores, and arriving there wasn’t simple since there were multiple and terrifying sea thaids.

Still, crossing over to the other country’s territory was relatively easy once you got close enough to the shore. It was there that the problems arose since the Hinians’ defense lines were strong. So although Frant tried its best to invade Hin, the latter simply did nothing more than defend itself.

It was like playing chess while you kept moving pieces around the board endlessly without ever capturing or taking control of one square. In short, it was frustrating for Frant.

The young man finished eating and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. After that, he waited an hour, during which he kept reading and listening to news about the war.

The young man was happy when Frant lost battles. He hated his nation, and there wasn’t anything more that he wanted to see than looking at this rotten place burn.

After an hour passed, the young man started his training routine. He did the same exercise he did the previous day, pushups, squats, sit-ups, reverse lunges, squats and presses, planks, and others.

The training was simple but effective because he had never trained before the previous day. The young man ended up being tired after finishing his workout. And took a shower soon after.

“Quests.”

—————————–

[Quests List]

[Daily]

<Eating Habits: COMPLETE>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points

-Failure Penalty: None

(Eat a healthy meal)

<Physical training: COMPLETE>

-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points ．

-Failure Penalty: None

(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)

—————————–

Erik acquired another twenty experience points and twenty DNA points, bringing him to fifty of both. To temporarily unlock the system feature that would enable him to modify the brain crystal and treat his deformity, if that was the proper way to put it, he simply needed fifty more DNA points.

After that, it was a jump into the unknown. If Erik’s hunch was right, he could make neural links, increasing his rank and becoming stronger.

His power was useless, but at least he would never starve, thanks to it.

The young man thought about starting a farm, as Mister Fox did. Still, it wasn’t easy to get permission, mainly because, to do so, one had to become affiliated with the Stone family, which was the most prominent food producer inside the city.

Doing so wasn’t simple; the family itself didn’t move for a small business like the one Erik would eventually make.

They were prideful people, in addition to being filthy rich. A single mistake could ruin him, shattering his recently acquired slim hopes of a better life.

There were many rumors about them making entire families lose their assets and putting them into debt, something he couldn’t afford.

He could barely afford to live, thanks to the fact that he was the owner of the house and to the small amount of money he got working for Mister Fox, after all.

Erik then changed into more fitting clothes, jeans, and a shirt. It wasn’t very elegant, but it was everything the young man had.

After waiting a couple of hours, Erik left his house and walked through the streets until he reached where Benjamin was supposed to pick him up.

The sun was high in the sky, shining its light upon the buildings lining the road.

Erik always felt the urge to go back home and hide from the people. His neighbors knew who he was, so they all looked at him while he walked, looking at him as if he was a cockroach or some other bug.

Some even spat on the ground when he walked near him. But Erik kept walking, ignoring them.

As he went, he saw multiple people walking, some peculiar ones among them too. One elderly woman was walking around with a big bag of trash.

A different girl was racing across the street while sporting a hoodie and shorts, and a man in complete black then appeared from a corner, walking down the street headed who knew where.

He wore no shoes, and his feet were dirty. Something told Erik that he lived somewhere around here, inside some thrash can.

He was probably someone with a weak power that even the military deemed as useless.

In either case, the sight made Erik uncomfortable as that could be Erik’s fate too. He hated seeing those poor souls.

When he finally arrived at the meeting place, the young man waited for Benjamin’s flying car to arrive. When he spotted it coming toward him, he stood straight and observed. “Hey!”

Benjamin landed the vehicle smoothly and came closer.

Benjamin lowered the window, wearing a fancy suit today instead of his usual casual wear. He was tall, with a thin build, despite being in the army.

He had dark skin and was in his mid-thirties. His hairs were black, long, and tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, and when he saw Erik, he lowered them to say hi. He then smiled at Erik.

“You look nice,” the young man said to his father’s friend.

Benjamin smiled broadly. “Thank you,” he said.

Erik then jumped into the vehicle, and then the sergeant sped toward the restaurant.